Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham (1) dunks the ball as Washington State forward Brock Motum (12) looks on in the second half during an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, in Corvallis, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Photo: Rick Bowmer, Associated Press

Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham (1) dunks the ball as...

Image 2 of 5

Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham (1) brings the ball up court in the second half during an NCAA college basketball game with Washington State Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, in Corvallis, Ore.

Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham (1) gets downcourt for a dunk off a fast break during the second half of their NCAA college basketball game against Utah in Salt Lake City, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. Oregon State defeated Utah 76-58.

Photo: Steve C. Wilson, Associated Press

Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham (1) gets downcourt for a dunk...

Image 4 of 5

Oregon State's Jared Cunningham, right, and forward Angus Brandt celebrate at the buzzer in an NCAA college basketball game against Oregon in Eugene, Ore., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Cunningham led Oregon State with 27 points in the team's 76-71 win.

Photo: Don Ryan, Associated Press

Oregon State's Jared Cunningham, right, and forward Angus Brandt...

Image 5 of 5

Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham, right, maneuvers against Southern California guard Maurice Jones during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012.

If he had it his way, Jared Cunningham would not have to play 54 minutes again when his Oregon State team plays at Stanford tonight at 7.

The last time the two teams met, they could have danced all night and nearly did. The game went four overtimes Jan. 7 in Corvallis before Stanford walked away - probably very slowly - with a 103-101 win in the longest game in Stanford's 99-year basketball history. The 60 minutes of action took three hours and eight minutes to finish.

"It was weird seeing the clock hit 0.0 a few times and having to go back on the floor," Cunningham, the former San Leandro High standout, said on the phone this week. "They made the plays down the stretch that we didn't make."

Along with wins over Colorado State (with an RPI of 28) and North Carolina State (50), the victory has been one of the highlights of Stanford's season. But the sixth-place Cardinal (17-8, 7-6 Pac-12) have lost five of their past seven.

The eighth-place Beavers (15-10, 5-8) have struggled lately too, losing three of their past four. However, they have beaten Cal and Oregon, which visits Stanford on Sunday.

"We started out real good in the preseason," said Cunningham, the Pac-12's leading scorer (18.8). "We had a couple of close losses in the Pac-12 early on. Lately we've been losing games we should have won."

The Beavers are coming off Sunday's narrow loss to league co-leader Washington in which Cunningham scored 23 points. In the marathon against Stanford, he had 19 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

"The kid's terrific," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "He has a bright future in our sport. There's not many things he can't do well. He can handle the basketball, get to the basket, finish well. He can shoot the three, and he's a heck of a defender."

With 69 steals, the 6-foot-4 junior guard has 20 more than the next best in the Pac-12, and he's fifth in the nation in that department.

He's also an impressive dunker. His reverse alley-oop slam against Howard was nominated for a national play-of-the-year contest. His putback against Arizona last season was voted the Hoops Manifesto College Dunk of the Year.

There's a chance Cunningham could be playing with Griffin and James next year. He said he hasn't spent any time thinking about the NBA, but he might leave OSU early to enter the NBA draft. Or he may stay to polish his skills.

"Some people say my point guard skills aren't there," he said. The presence of point guard Ahmad Starks precludes him from playing that position, he said. "I see myself as a combo guard (in the NBA). I need to be more consistent with my shooting."

He doesn't see the Stanford game as a payback opportunity, he said. Moments later, he added, "They slipped one by us on our court, and we want to go down there and get one back."